How Gods are Born
by The Dimension Crossing Mew
Summary: These are the accounts of the birth of Amaterasu's children, the Brush Gods.
1. Yomigami

**Yomigami**

In the age of deities, after the banishment of Susano-o from the Celestial Plains to the land of Nippon, but before Nagi's defeat of Orochi, the great sun goddess Amaterasu walked the lands that she ruled in the form of a great white wolf, giving light and life to the mortal and heavenly realms.

As she wondered, she felt an impulse well up within her soul. Driven by this nameless urge, she traveled the mortal world until came across an unadorned, pure white silk wall scroll. As she gazed upon it, the power within her reached out to the scroll. Realizing that this was what she had been searching for, Amaterasu brought the scroll with her to the Celestial Plains.

She laid the scroll out on the ground and meditated on her powers. As if in a trance, she lifted her tail, the tip wet and black with her holy ink, and put it to the silk. As she drew, her power effused her entire body, the ink, and the scroll. Over time, the image of a fierce dragon formed on the scroll. Even when the dragon was finished, the goddess continued on, drawing in the landscape in the background of the scroll.

Once that was done, Amaterasu knew that her task was not yet finished. With great care, she tore the silk of the scroll into three pieces. Then, with the severed edges of the pieces lying flush together, she called upon her power of Rejuvenation and Restoration. With the brush of her tail, the goddess drew ink over the tears as if laying stiches. Wherever the ink had touched, the scroll became whole.

The silk scroll in one piece once more, Amaterasu called up her powers once more and poured life into the scroll like water. The ink dragon moved, stretched, and _lifted_ itself off of the scroll. It rose in to the air, scales white as the fresh fallen snow, marked with the scarlet whorls and lines of divinity. In each three-toed claw it gripped a yellow orb. Its body had separated almost entirely from the scroll, which floated in the air behind it, save for a section of its tail, which remained a drawing on the silk of the scroll at the points where the scroll had been torn and mended.

The dragon lowered itself before Amaterasu and spoke in a deep, growling, male voice. "Hail, Mother," he rumbled. "You have called me into being, and so I am."

Amaterasu's heart soared as she realized the source of her restlessness, for it had been time since she had last birthed new gods. She blessed her new son, licking his ivory brow, and then gifted him with the power he had been born of. She named him Yomigami, Brush God of Rejuvenation, from the word _yomigaeru_, to be resurrected.

And so did Amaterasu give birth to the first and oldest of the Brush Gods, Yomigami, God of Rejuvenation.


	2. Tachigami

Not long after the birth of Yomigami, Amaterasu felt the same urge come upon her. This time, her aimless search brought her to the crucibles of the best smelters of jewel steel in the land of Nippon. From crucible to crucible she wondered in search of the finest jewel steel. She rejected ingot after ingot before she found what she was looking for.

With the steel obtained, she scoured the land in search of legendary sword smiths. She inspected the pieces of their work, searching for the skill and spirit worthy of forging a divine blade. Finally, she found a humble, pious, and above all skilled, smith to forge the sword of a god.

Night and day he forged and reforged the blade, attempts rejected dozens of times. He worked tirelessly for days, until at last the blade was perfect. It was a _tsurugi_ style sword, the sword smith's greatest masterpiece, and he laid it reverently at Amaterasu's feet. She inspected the sword and found it suitable, and in thanks she blessed the sword smith and his descendants with good fortune, and in time they became one of the greatest and most legendary sword making families in Nippon.

Amaterasu brought the sword with her when she returned to the Celestial Plains. She took the sword's hilt between her jaws, the power in her soul rising up to fill her being. She raised the blade above her head, pushing the power of the sword, the Power Slash, through it. With a jerk of her head she swung the sword through the air. The sound of a sword being drawn swiftly from its scabbard rang out and the air itself parted with the force of her will.

As she put the sword down, her power flared. There, at the pommel of the sword, formed a small ball of white light. As Amaterasu watched, it grew and changed shape, forming a tail, ears, tiny paws and a pointed, twitching nose. It had become a large white rat, marked with divine red.

Once it was fully formed, it bowed to her and squeaked in a high-pitched voice, "Hail, Mother. By the strength of your will, I have come forth."

Amaterasu licked her newborn son in greeting, blessed him with his name, and gifted him his power over Power Slash, and the sword. She christened him Tachigami, Sword God, after a type of sword.

This is the account of the birth of Amaterasu's second son, Tachigami, God of the Sword and Brush God of Power Slash.

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I have crossposted this story to Archive of Our Own and with extra info. Also, the story at Spacebattles is ahead by one chapter.


	3. Hanagami

**Hanagami**

In the age of deities, the sun goddess Amaterasu walked among her worshipers in the form of the white wolf. In her travel, she came upon a merchant selling many beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. Of the many sculptures, figures, and woodcuttings, one piece in particular stood out to the goddess.

It was a woodcarving of three monkeys sitting in a row, representing a common saying of Buddhism, a religion that had recently gained followers in her land: "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." The 'see no evil' monkey held a _shō_, playing it in such a way as to hide its face. The monkey that represented 'hear no evil' held a pair of cymbals, using them to cover its ears. The monkey of 'speak no evil' played a _shakuhachi_, which covered its lips.

Amaterasu paid the merchant for the carving and returned with it to the Celestial Plains. Once home, she carefully removed the individual statuettes from their base, setting the base aside in favor of the three wooden monkeys. By now, the goddess had recognized the unnamable urge that preceded the birth for a new god of her power, and she knew of only one power that presented in three forms.

With that knowledge, Amaterasu took the statuettes and went in search of a location that would fit her needs and the needs of her power

The great wolf traveled the Celestial Plain for days in her search before she finally came to a place that resonated with both her soul and the heart of her power.

At the base of a small cliff lay a scene of incredible natural beauty. An unseen crack in the rock allowed water to pour in a sparkling sheet down the cliff face onto a spill of boulders at the base of the cliff, where it splashed and trickled merrily in a series of small waterfalls into a small pond. Lotuses bloomed amidst their lily pads in the crystal clear water, sheltered by a small Konohana Blossom tree. Sheltered in the crook of a low growing branch, a lone Konohana Blossom bloomed upward.

It was perfect.

Her power now pressed incessantly at her and she heeded its call for haste. She placed the statuette of the _shō_ playing monkey on the lily pad of a lotus bud, then carefully floated the monkey with the cymbals in an empty patch of water. Finally, Amaterasu placed the carving of the monkey playing the _shakuhachi_ beneath the lowest limb of the Konohana Blossom tree. With the carvings in place, the goddess called upon her powers.

First, she used her power to cause the lotus bud to bloom, taking care that the wooden monkey was within the circle of her will. The petals of the budding flower slowly unfurled, revealing a blooming lotus flower more beautiful and radiant than any floating in the pond. The statuette, caught within the influence of the goddess' power, began to glow with a soft green light, indicative of the power it now contained. But Amaterasu, and the power she bore, had just begun, and so she moved on.

Next, careful again of its placement, the goddess invoked her power again. Willed into being, a large lily pad sprang up beneath the floating monkey carving, lifting it from the water. This carving, too, began to glow, but still Amaterasu was not done, and so pressed onward.

The final use of power was the most simple. The goddess connected the statuette beneath the tree with one end of a vine wrought of her will to the Konohana Blossom above it. The vine contracted with a snap, leaving the wooden carving seated in the flower's embrace.

This one began to glow as well, before all three statuettes gave out a blinding flash before being enveloped in a ball of bright, white light. The shining orbs rose into the air, growing, shifting, reforming. Lines of crimson appeared, curling, swirling in the light. The lights stretched and pulled and continued to grow, expanding and extending, taking their final shape. Tails, limbs, snouts formed; paws held musical instruments. Three white monkeys now stood before the great goddess, blazoned with holy red.

Together, they played their respective instruments, _shō_, _shakuhachi_, and cymbals, in a short tune before bowing as one. "Hail, mother of us all," the first monkey said, straightening from his bow. "By your implacable will," The second continued. "We now are," the third finished, standing up straight.

Amaterasu went up to each of her sons, giving each a welcoming lick, naming each in turn. She named the one with the _shō_ Sakigami, from the verb 'to bloom', giving him guardianship over the power of Bloom. To the son with the _shakuhachi_, she gave the name Hasugami, Lotus God, gifting him with the power of Water Lily. The one with the cymbals she named Tsutagami, Vine God, for his power was the power of Vine.

And so were born the Flower Gods, the Hanagami triplets, Brush Gods of the Greensprout techniques.


End file.
